AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here and there in the esoteric literature I’ve encountered what I’m calling the “Magician’s Creed,” a set of four postulates that every practitioner of the occult arts should adopt and apply diligently: “To Know, To Dare, To Will and To Keep Silent” (Scire, Audere, Velle, Tacere). This morning I recognized that these stipulations can be associated with the court cards of the tarot with only a slight modification to their order of appearance.

First a quote from Wikipedia regarding what the guidance means in practical terms:

The Four Pillars of the Magus:

• To Know (Scire): This involves continuous learning, study, and research to understand correspondences, spiritual paths, or the world around you.
  
• To Dare (Audere): This represents the courage to act, walk a different path, face fears, and take risks based on your knowledge.
  
• To Will (Velle): This is the focus, determination, and discipline required to achieve goals, providing the necessary energy for your actions.
  
• To Keep Silent (Tacere): This is the power to listen, protect your inner workings from others’ influence, and keep secrets to allow them to grow.

The “”need to know” (and by association, the urge to learn since the latter infers the former) is imbued in the Pages (aka Princesses, Valets or Knaves depending on deck). I see this primarily as understanding oneself first, and only secondarily being cognizant of the specific circumstances of any reading in which they appear.

The Knights represent all forms of self-directed initiative, including the courage to act and to take risks. The Knights do not reflect on their motives, they are responsive to external conditions and react on instinct alone.

The Kings are the goal-oriented senior members of the tarot court, embodying willpower, determination and discipline. They hold considerable power in reserve and exert their authority with discernment..

The Queens are the mature reservoirs of a wisdom that is subtle and tight-lipped. They are patient and contemplative, with no need to wield their power in ostentatious ways.

In the Golden Dawn’s “power grid” for the court cards, the Pages were identified as the “Power of Reception and Transmission,” implying a “pass-through” channel for knowledge; the Knights were named “Power in Action,” which is self-explanatory; the Queens were designated “Brooding Power,” which usually operates in silence; and the Kings became “Potential Power,” which conveys the virtue of self-control in the service of fairness.

In the suit of Wands, these royal icons are ambitious and energetic; in Cups they are beholden to their feelings; in Swords they are predominantly rational; and in Pentacles they are pragmatic in their approach. Independent of other selection criteria, the proviso of the “Magician’s Creed” that is appropriate to the querent’s purpose might be taken into account when choosing a card from among the tarot court to serve as the “significator” in a reading.

While few modern tarot reader’s aspire to the title of “Magus,” those who are more scholarly and not just enamored of the social-media exposure it can bring tread much the same ground. I describe it as “getting under the skin of objective reality to see what makes the Universe tick,” and the most sophisticated use of divination is just that. Anything less profound is mainly child’s-play.